2003: Hunting Heritage Partnership Awards
Over $500,000 In Grants To 18 State Agencies

NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has awarded over a half million dollars in grants through its Hunting Heritage Partnership to state agencies to help provide expanded hunting opportunities to America's sportsmen and women.

The Hunting Heritage Partnership was established by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearm industry, to provide much needed direct funding to state wildlife agencies to help them with programs that provide opportunities for, and remove barriers to, hunter participation.

“Officials in these grant recipient states have designed unique and dynamic recruitment tools and the Hunting Heritage Partnership grants recognize their successful efforts and help build on them. These are exactly the kind of creative program development concepts that agencies in other states can look to as models to help preserve our hunting and conservation traditions,” said Doug Painter, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Over 38 million Americans enjoy hunting and fishing and spent over $70 billion in 2001 in pursuit of their pastime which supported 1.2 million jobs. Efforts to expand hunting, such as those recognized by the Hunting Heritage Partnership, help boost the nation's economy.

"When more hunters go afield, everyone benefits. The contributions hunters and anglers make in dedicated, unique taxes paid and the fees collected fund conservation efforts for all Americans to enjoy," said Steve Williams, director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Applications from 36 states were submitted to the Hunting Heritage Partnership and over $500,000 in grants were awarded to 18 states for programs focusing on issues from recruitment and retention of hunters to increasing access to hunting lands. The National Shooting Sports Foundation is working with the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation and members of Congress on behalf of America's 18 million hunters to provide states with additional funding opportunities through the Hunting Heritage Partnership.

Announcement of the grant awards was made at the International Association of State Fish and Wildlife Agencies annual meeting. A total of 18 state agencies received over $509,000 in grant awards from NSSF. The following states were awarded grants:

Alabama - Alabama received $26,000 for their mentored youth dove hunting program which has introduced more than 778 young people to the excitement and traditions of hunting. With 43% of these youth being first-time shooters, the program has been recognized by experts as one of the most successful new hunter recruitment programs in the nation.
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Connecticut - Connecticut received $10,625 to provide pheasants to private fish and game clubs that sponsor special Junior Pheasant Hunting Days. This program, a partnership effort between the state agency and private clubs, allows young Connecticut hunters between the ages of 12 and 16 the opportunity to participate in a pheasant hunt without the pressure of other hunters and provides valuable safety training for junior licensed hunters.
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Georgia - Georgia received $2,600 for a special direct mail campaign to remind and encourage current and new hunters to purchase a hunting license and take advantage of the Peach State's many hunting opportunities. This program will include efforts to ascertain the percentage of lapsed hunters and the percentage of hunter education graduates that take up hunting.
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Iowa - Iowa received $7,000 for the Hunt Master program which provides physically challenged sportsmen with greater hunting opportunities through the use of the portable hydraulic hunting blind called a Hunt Master. Grant funds will allow Iowa to double the number of Iowa sportsmen served by the department by making available a second unit covering other areas of the state and reducing transportation time.
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Massachusetts - Massachusetts received $19,000 for the Youth Hunt Program which provides young sportsmen and women with hunting opportunities they might not otherwise have. Grant funds will allow the state to double the number young sportsmen and women taking part in the program and fund development of a Youth Hunt Kit, which will be used to promote youth hunts through partnerships with sportsmen's clubs.
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Minnesota - Minnesota received $15,000 for a PSA radio campaign that will promote hunting in the state with the goal of increasing hunter participation. The campaign will emphasize not just the benefits of hunting but also the resulting conservation impact of sportsmen and women.
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Nebraska - Nebraska received $30,000 for a communications effort, with key partners, promoting hunting in the state with the goal of increasing hunter participation. The campaign will emphasize not just the benefits of hunting but also the resulting conservation impact of sportsmen and women.
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Nevada - Nevada received $25,000 for the Family Hunt Opportunity program which offers  clinics teaching hunter safety and responsibility, landowner relations, finding game and offer shooting practice. The clinics will be coupled with a NDOW-sponsored hunt for hunter education gradates and their parents, providing a trial hunting experience and social support for new hunters.
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New Hampshire - New Hampshire received $32,000 for a direct mail campaign targeting lapsed hunters encouraging them to purchase a hunting license. By communicating directly with lapsed hunters, the state could potentially bring 8,000 - 10,000 sportsmen and women back into the ranks of active hunters.
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New Jersey - New Jersey received $16,850 for an Outdoor Skills Day program designed to recruit 1,000 new hunters through a one-day event for non-licensed residents. The event will provide attendees with the opportunity to develop their hunting skills in order to become responsible, ethical sportsmen and women.
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Ohio - Ohio received $30,000 for a survey of private landowners that will identify key barriers to accessing prime hunting lands that hunters face. Barriers to access are a major factor impacting hunting participation and state revenue from expenditures by hunters. Ohio's survey will provide valuable insights on how the agency can address these issue in a cost effective manner.
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Oklahoma - Oklahoma received $20,000 to develop a hunter retention and recruitment marketing campaign utilizing direct mail and the state's own databases. The campaign will focus on existing hunters and households with multiple hunters, especially those with children of hunting age. The marketing effort will also identify key messages likely to motivate sportsmen and women to purchase licenses and hunt.
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Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania received $74,800 for a comprehensive survey of the state's sportsmen that will help guide decisions by wildlife biologists that will provide greater hunting opportunities to and better wildlife management for Pennsylvanians. The funds will also help accelerate plans for mapping of all hunting areas in the state which will assist hunters locate open hunting acreage in their vicinity.
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Tennessee - Tennessee received $40,500 to address the need for access to quality hunting lands by using the funds to establish a walk-in hunting access pilot program in western Tennessee, increase hunting access on private lands and study the feasibility of establishing a statewide walk-in program. 
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Texas - Texas received $38,000 to expand the youth hunting program offering special three-day hunts to an additional 250 youth and retain these new hunters with hunts offered in the later years. The program will also recruit and retain adult hunters participating in the program as either parents or volunteers.
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Washington - Washington received $48,867 for increasing the number of upland game bird hunters by using the funds to increase access to, and awareness of, quality upland hunting on private lands. The state will look to secure a minimum of 30,000 acres to be leased for the purpose of public hunting access.
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West Virginia - West Virginia received $14,000 to recruit and retain physically challenged hunters through the purchase and use of special adaptive equipment. Additionally, the state will develop a group of instructors with special skills to assist the state's physically challenged residents through the hunter education system and out into the field on hunts.
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